The Backstory

Backstory -- The experiences of a character or the circumstances of an event that occur before the action or narrative of a literary, cinematic, or dramatic work.

Here at Pasteland, the editors are putting together the beginnings of the end-of-the-year issue, which will also be the end-of-the-decade issue. That means another list, this one The Best Albums of the '00s List. Paste will hardly be alone in this endeavor. Every music magazine, website, and blog will follow suit, because the end of the decade is the perfect time to sum up the highlights of the previous ten years.

Here are three albums that will inevitably end up on a lot of Best-of-the-Decade lists, and will perhaps grace the pages of Paste. I think they're decent albums; a couple of them I'd even consider very good albums. But I don't think they're anywhere near the best of the decade. But they have achieved a sort of mythic status, at least in part because of their backstories. Take away the backstories and you've got some decent music. But you don't have the Best Albums of the '00s.

Wilco -- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Brave, headstrong band sticks to their principles, refuses to knuckle under to the pressure applied by their record label, gets dropped, gets re-signed, and eventually releases a landmark album, complete with accompanying documentary film footage.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is a good album, and is certainly a sonic departure for Wilco. But it would merely be a solid, creative release without that captivating backstory. Who doesn't love the Committed Artist hoisting the middle finger to The Man, who simply doesn't understand? Who can't identify with the misunderstood underdogs who stay true to their Art in the face of the corporate shitstorm? Bravo, Jeff Tweedy. Now, any chance you could rediscover melody?

The Shins -- Oh, Inverted World

"The Shins will change your life," Natalie Portman rapturously sighs in "Garden State." And legions of hipsters, anxious to proclaim their freethinking independence, rushed out to buy the album.

I'm not entirely sure why a band that channels Donovan and Love would be considered life-changing. That didn't even work back in 1967. Anybody checked on how well the old hippie ideals have held up lately? It's pleasant music, to be sure, and James Mercer and friends concoct a dreamy psychedelic hootenanny. But how much do you want to bet that these guys would still be playing bars in Albuquerque if Zach Braff hadn't been a fan?

Coldplay -- A Rush of Blood to the Head

I admit that I don't get it. I recognize that millions of people, including people I love and admire, are deeply enamored with this band. But when I hear those saccharine power ballads, it's still hard for me to escape the thought that twenty years from now Coldplay will be viewed as the REO Speedwagon or Journey of their generation; an enormously popular group that couldn't make substantial music if their gently angst-ridden lives depended on it. But they certainly look good, and they're hooked up with all the right celebrities. And they came along during a lull in the Britpop hegemony, and they sauntered in to fill the void.

"Am I a part of the cure/Or am I part of the disease," Chris Martin croons on "Clocks." Do I get a vote?